Bad Teacher (2011)

Had seen the trailers for this for ages, and being a bit of a Cameron Diaz fan, wanted to see this. Had actually planned to see this before Green Lantern but it ended up being sold out!

Anyway, the plot line for this film isn't difficult. Cameron Diaz, playing Elizabeth Halsey, is a woman that wants to be kept and not have to do anything in return. She has taken up teaching as she believed it to be an easy profession.

She wants a boob job in order to woe a colleague, Justin Timberlake playing Scott Delacorte, and needs to raise £10k.

She goes head to head with another teacher, English actress Lucy Punch playing the hilarious Amy Squirrel. 

What I loved about this film is that Elizabeth Helsey plays dirty and doesn't actually feel bad about it. She is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. And, to give a little bit away about the film, the film and story line isn't there to change her.

There are some hilarious moments in this film, notably the sex session (if you can call it a sex session) and most of the scenes involving Amy Squirrel!

I did also genuinely feel for the children placed under the teaching skills of Elizabeth Helsey! They neglected, verbally abused, tormented and not appreciated at any point. If this, and thank god it isn't, was a real life situation the press would have been on this like GLB at an all you can eat buffet!

I did like however how Helsey's attitude did rub off on the students and that at some points she did feel pity and took actions to turn around a situation. It's this quality in Helsey that determined what could possibly the best career for her.

All in all the film is very funny and quite inventive at some points in the film. It's definity a film you don't need to think about.

I give this about 3.5 / 5.

Green Lantern (2011)

Well I didn't know any history of the Green Lantern before seeing this so was able to go into this film without any sort of expectations, which is nice when it's a film with so much history.

This stars Ryan Reynolds and other actors (resses) that I'd not heard off - Blake Lively and Mark Strong.

Now personally, I couldn't see any problems with Ryan Reynolds. Voted sexiest man of the year 2010, I couldn't see there would be any issues with him as the starring role.


In short Hal Jordan is chosen as a member of the Green Lantern Corp, an intergalatic guard against evil. Turns out he's also the first human to be chosen as a Green Lantern.


Of course the other Green Lanterns aren't impressed and he heads off back to Earth pretty defeated by the happenings.


Now not to give too much of the storyline away, there's a planet eating force that feeds of fear and it's heading for Earth.


As for the film itself, I wasn't impressed at all with the introduction. THe first few minutes of the film, where the back story is explained to us all, are animated. Not a good animated, but something that would feel right at home on Cartoon Network and not that worthy of a big screen production. What made this worse for me was the fact that some of the characters in the introduction are portrayed later in the film and they look all normal.


Along with the awful quality of the animated opening, there are points in the film where the special effects are appauling. It does sometimes seem that no real thought or attention to detail were thought on.

Apart from these moments, the film is a good film. If you're looking for something entertaining, where you don't need to think about a lot, or need to work out what's happening - then go see this.


Some more action scenes would have been nice, but it's satisfying what you do get.


I give this 3 / 5.


PS - there is a little snippet during the credits clearing making way for a sequel.

Film news....

Well due to a lack of decent films out last weekend there's no film reviews. But there is some film news.....

The Avengers
Looks like there's a new poster out for the upcoming Avengers film:

You can now see Hemsworth as Thor, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, an update Chris Evans as Captain America costume and Mark Ruffalo's Hulk!

Ben 10

One of my favourite cartoons is being made into a big budget blockbuster.

If you don't know who Ben Tennyson is, then he's a kid who found a special alien watch that allows him to turn into several diffferent aliens all with different abilities and powers.

There was a small screen movie of Ben 10 a feew years back, but this looks like it will be big screen!

Film news - 11/06/11

OK, so some film news that I think will tickle your fancy......

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 

Well it seems our favourite green reptiles will be getting a new film.

Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec have been asked to write the script to reboot these infamous green ninjas!

No date provided yet, but I think I'll be seeing it!!








Terminator 5
Paul Walker is currently being considered for the next Terminator film. Seems that the fifth installment could actually be a reboot with the story following Kyle.


Guess we'll see how that one pans out.....

X-Men - First Class (2011)

Well after a very successful 3 X-Men films under their belt, I was a bit cautious about a prequel. I know that as a bit of an X-Fan, I knew that there were so many great story lines out there that they could expand on and turn into great films.

I was still excited about seeing this film. Even though I thought that the trailers didn't look too great for this film, I was still looking forward to it being released.

The film starts out with some great insight to the main characters of this film, and most of the 3 that have already been and gone, Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto). One of the characters also forms an unlikely friendship that I can't remember being explored in the cartoon (I was always a cartoon fan, not a comic fan). It soon skips to modern day (well modern day being the 60s) and these 2 characters are soon brought together and history is made.

The continuing story line revolves around mutants, no shock there, and the Cuban missile crisis. For me, the story line isn't great. There's no imagination to the story line.

There appeared to be no imagination in this film. I understand that most of the characters have already been designed for the big screen, but there was a lot of new mutants we hadn't seen before in a film, and there didn't seem to be anything original about (well as original as they could be bearing in mind they're all comic book characters!).

There was small things that I noticed and wasn't keen on - like the first X-Man was Cyclops and he wasn't even mentioned in this film, the only connection was his brother Havoc and him being one of the first.

There were some other small bits like Nightcrawler's father, the cameo of Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) and the interesting switch of Mystique.

I don't think that there's anything new about this, and nor was I actually interested in how the X-Men actually come about. I would have much preferred a continuation with the X-Men (although I think that would be quite difficult now as they seem to have killed most of them off).

I give this film 2.5 / 5.

The Hangover Part 2 (2011)

I didn't see the first Hangover film at the cinema because I thought that it didn't look so great. I randomly rented the first one out on Blu-Ray not expecting much. I thought that it was hilarious!

Well, it has been quite a while since seeing that first film so I went into this one quite forgetful of everything that happened in the first....thank God!

To me, the characters were all new over again and I liked getting to know these guys again.


From what I could remember, the plot was/is almost the same to the first. They get proper drunk, lose someone and need to find them before a wedding.


Now for what the plot lacks, the escapades that this group get upto is brilliant. And with the return of a freat character from the first, are side splittingly funny!


The laughs are non stop and imginative and will make you laugh throughout the film. I did think that at times the comedy virged on the darker sie of decent, and I think that if you were see this without really knowing the type of humour, then you may possibly be offended by some of the language and jokes.


I was quite shocked when Bradly Cooper used the C word!


The acting of the main characters is good (smaller parts not so great), and I would certainly consider buying the soundtrack. 


The main thing that I can say about this film is that it's hilarious. If you liked the first and are happy with the same overall plot, see this film!!


I'd give this 3.5/5

Some movie news....

Thought I'd post some movie news along with some reviews. Of course it will only be juicy movie news.....

The Lion King.......in 3D!
Well it seems that Disney are to re-release The Lion King this summer. Not only in the cinema, but into homes as well!!

Disney announced "Simba, Mufasa, Nala, Timon and Pumbaa are back and better than ever this fall when Disney’s “The Lion King” roars into theaters and homes in breathtaking 3D. A special two-week theatrical extravaganza kicks off Sept. 16, 2011, showcasing the Oscar - and Golden Globe -winning film on the big screen in Disney Digital 3D for the first time ever, and its highly anticipated home entertainment debut kicks off October 4, celebrating the Diamond Edition release of the epic movie “The Lion King” in high-definition Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D"

Now, I don't know about any one else, but The Lion King is my favourite Disney film, so I'll be there seeing this!! Looking forward to it already.

Assassin's Creed
The fantastic computer game seems to be following in the footsteps of Mortal Kombat, Super Mario, Prince of Persia and the (I thought fantastic) Street Fighter games that will be made into a film.


It's not sure yet who will be making the film, from what I can see there isn't even a script yet, but I'm hoping that it won't follow down the same lines as Street Fighter and Prince of Persia (and plenty of other game-to-film) and end up poo!


Well, there's some news anyway. If any other juicy news comes along, will be sure to post!!


Chris.

Insidious (2011)

Insidious (2011)

I've always been a bit of a sucker for scary films and still maintain that the scariest one ever is Poltergeist! As much as I don't think that a film will ever become close to that in my rank of scary films, I always hope!

After seeing trailers for Insidious, I knew I had to see this film. After finally getting some friends to actually see this film, we ended up at a showing in Harlow (classy I know!).

I'd not heard of any of the actors in it, although Juliet did recognise one, and for me this did show in the acting skills. For me, it just seems a bit amatuerish.

In short the story is about a kid that for unknown reasons falls into a deep coma for months on end. The mother starts seeing ghosts, they move house, she sees the ghosts still and ends up calling in some comical style ghost busters.

The main things that made this a good film for me were the many occasions when you were scared out your skin. The film on most occasions does give you a few moments where you can get over the shock, but a couple of times doesn't give you that reat and that only makes you worse!

I enjoyed the films "Ghostbusters". 2 guys, played by Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson, who play a comical I'm more important that you and a constant trying to outdo each other. This does add a very small amount of comedy into the film and is very subtle and not obvious. This small bit of comedy was welcomed though.

The biggest let down for me in this film was (highlight text below as spoilers):

 - I wasn't sure if the main baddie in the game trying to possess the main characters son, Dalton Lambert (played by Ty Simpkins), was the devil or not. There is a lot of similarities to the devil, but it isn't clear

 - I didn't like that the main baddie didn't look all that scary when actually shown. As a silouette, or a drawing, he looked proper evil. But when shown properly, he looked like a bad Darth Maul.

 - The 'twist' at the end where the main character, Josh Lambert (played by Patrick Wilson), is possessed by the ghost that haunted him as a kid. The film ends with his wife, Renai Lambert (played by Rose Byrne), screaming as she realises the father is now possessed.

Well, I'd recommend this film if you fancy a bit of brainless scare! It is enjoyable!!

I'd give this film 2.5/5.


PS - look out for Jigsaw!

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 21st May 2011

I was looking forward to this film... although I didn't think much of Part 3 in the franchise and wondered if the absence of Bloom and Knightley would leave a noticeable gap. I have to say that after a while you forgot they weren't even there.

Depp was always enough to be the centre of attention and he pulls it off effortlessly. Although it's nice to see the familiar face of Rush for the fans.

Cruz was an interesting casting choice and I found her character to be amusing enough although to be fair, the part could have easily played by any Hollywood actress. I wouldn't be particularly upset if she didn't reprise her role.

Clafin is a new face as a cleryman, who disrobes as the film goes on if you require a bit of Man Candy too!

McShane was a stand out role for me... You honestly believed he was Blackbeard. His on screen presence was noticeable and the only character able to divert your attention was Jack Sparrow himself.

SPOILER

If anything I was disappointed that his character died so he won't be able to return for any future films

We saw the 2D version of this film and it's clear which parts were designed to be in 3D. It didn't distract too much but after a while became glaringly obvious and started to irritate me.

I have to say that this is probably my favourite of all 4 films and you probably wouldn't even have to have seen any of the others to enjoy it. It's pure Pirate fun without any of the restrictions of tying up the loose ends of the last instalment.

I would happily see this again and give it:

Priest - 9th May 2011

SPOLIERS

Well I have to say that I had high hopes for this film. I'd seen the trailer ages ago and thought that the story looked quite interesting and a different take on a vampire film.

Well, not long into the film I realised just how disappointed I was with it.

There is an interesting storyline, there has been an age old war between humans and vampires (who are more animistic in looks and nature than the typical vampire). Humans managed to get the upper hand in this war by creating the Priests. 6 warriors who managed to kill of most of the vampires and put the remaining vamps into camps.

5 remaining priests have now been integrated into society, albeit outcasts.

Now, one of the priests brother has been killed by some vamps and he wants revenge.

The following story is quite predictable. They go looking for some vamps, they find a human (ex priest) that is now half vamp and is like an uber vamp now. Anyway, they all somehow manage to survive things that would kill even super super humans and they all survive...but the queen vamp is still out there!!

I can't express how disappointed I was with the story and the way that the vamps were portrayed as more animal than humans that liked to suck blood, etc etc.

I did like the way that religion was incorporated into the weaponry and the way that the church was portrayed.

I'd suggest waiting for the DVD. My score - 2/5.

Source Code (2011)

SPOILERS BELOW

Had been looking forward to Source Code since seeing it covered on Film 2011 and was pleased to see it had finally been released.

Went to the cinema with an understanding of what the film was about and that is that mankind have found a way of reliving the last 8 minutes of a persons life. Jake Gyllenhaal then has to relive a persons life over and over until he can find out who blew up a train and has a dirty bomb planned to go off in down town Chicage.

There are some interesting twists in the storyline and, although confined to a small 'pod', you get a lot of background story on Jake's character. It's this background that helped the film for me. It made me care about Jake's character and I ended up feeling for the guy and was pleased when the ending came. Pleased in a good way of course.

There are some pretty predictable moment, and I wasn't so chuffed at the end when the person I pointed out in the first 5 minutes actually ended up being the bomber!

This isn't a film where you can just go and watch it mindlessly. You'll need to think about this film. 

Make the effort though, it's a good film!

Chris's score:

Sucker Punch (2011)

SPOILER WARNING

Well, what can I say about Sucker Punch. Well, it's certainly different, that's for sure.

It's basically a story about a girl who is taken to work in a whore-house, and who's dance transports her to an alternate reality where she, and her other friends are 'superheroes', if you like....well, at least that's what I thought.

I can't lie and say the acting is first class. Babydoll (or Baby Dyke, as we like to call her), is the star of the show. It is her sexy dance that hypnotises the owner of the whore-house/hospital (confusing, yes I know).

I must admit, however, that the special effects are quite good in the fantasy scenes. The way the girls plan to escape, and how they go about trying to do so, is quite clever - despite it going tits-up.

The film starts off with an introduction to Babydoll, and how her step-dad was abusive to her sister. In an attempt to save her, she nearly kills her step-dad. She runs away, but ends up being caught and taken to a hospital where her step-dad pays for a labotomy so that Babydoll cannot tell anyone what really happened.

The film portrays her subconscious mind, and her attempts at escaping in to her own little world.

Aside from the slightly comical moments, the sparse action scenes, and a few shock moments, I didn't really feel the film had a lot to offer if I'm honest. It is a bit disappointing when you realise that none of it actually happened. It's a bit of a disappointing ending for myself personally.